Australia officially agrees to donate a Multi Beamer Echo Sounder, essential for expanding SL hydrological survey

Assistant Secretary North and South Asia of the Australian Department of Defence, Ms. Karen Radford, met State Minister of Defence Hon. Premitha Bandara Tennakoon at his office in Colombo today (Jul 30).

The Australian delegation including Assistant Director Lachlan Sillar and Policy Officer Noah Diamantopoulos were accompanied by Defence Advisor of the Australian High Commission in Colombo Colonel Amanda Johnston.

Minister Tennakoon accorded a warm welcome to the Australian delegation this afternoon and later sat for a cordial discussion.

During the discussion Ms. Radford mentioned that the hydrographic survey equipment that the Australian Government (Department of Defence) agreed to acquire and gift to the Sri Lankan Navy is expected to be delivered in September 2024.

The set of equipment is comprised of a shallow-water multi-beam echo sounder manufactured by Kongsberg and associated equipment, and is expected to augment Sri Lanka's hydrographic capabilities.

They also discussed the settings for the conduct of inaugural 'Defence Talks' between Sri Lanka (Ministry of Defence) and Australia (Department of Defence) which is to be implemented in order to discuss defence relations between the two countries, Strategic Outlook in the Indian Ocean region, Shared Security Challenges and also Partnership Opportunities.